Author
Topic: Path of Exile

I didn't see a thread for this. Open beta is up now. They've improved it by leaps and bounds since the alpha last year. I am really quite enthralled with this. Large-scale Diablo-style action RPG with a very massive sphere-grid-like skill tree and a cool skill system. Good presentation, too-- and it'll be free when it launches.

Rob and I disagree a bit on it so far, but I'm pretty enthralled with it and look forward to spending more time with it this weekend. Has anyone else tried it out?

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Friends, waffles, work. Or waffles, friends, work. Doesn't matter, but work is third.

I don't hate the game, by any means. The skill gems are cool and the passive tree is absolutely incredible and fun to investigate. I just think the moment to moment action is fairly weak and repetitive, the barter system confuses and turns me off, and the art direction is a little lousy. The creatures look good up close, but the isometric camera doesn't do them any favors so far away. It's like Dark Souls if you had an aerial view.

So I've got about 6 hours on the game now, I love it. Skill system kicks ass, and the diversity of different kinds of skills is awesome even at level 13 out of 100. Loot system is great too. Rob, I appreciate your complaint that the action feels weak, but I couldn't disagree more, because it feels just as tight as any other ARPG I've played, to me. Also I'm going to keep harping on you until you play it with me :)

Saying the barter system is confusing and turns you off is like saying "Learning Dark Souls is confusing and doesn't tell me what to do, so it turns me off." There's a ton of flexibility in it, and because of how it's built, it encourages trade and picking up things you might not normally pick up. Also, it encourages player interaction because someone else may have something you need, and usually you'll have something they want.

Anyone else playing this?

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Friends, waffles, work. Or waffles, friends, work. Doesn't matter, but work is third.

I really have no clue why this game isn't working for me. I love ARPGs, the skill system is quite impressive, and I love dark games. I think this game looks terrible aesthetically, however. Nothing is appealing, wondrous, grand, or even creepy. It just all looks like a big brown mush and the enemies all look terrible from that aerial view. As for the barter system, I'm having a hard time figuring out in my head what I should pick up and use to barter with. Having so many plated vests drop (some with two green gem slots, others with one red and one blue, others with three, others with OH FUCK IT I DON'T CARE ANYMORE) drop means that they start to lose value in my eyes. I get that they're trying to make everything meaningful and special, but it makes sifting through my inventory a giant chore. Then there's the fact that all of the low level armor is equivalent to gluing tin cans and buckets to your character. Again, nothing about this game looks cool or special. I know that's a picky thing to discuss about a game, but I'm not going to spend hours in a world that I'm not interested in. There are monsters in the first act of D2 that give players a sense of wonder (the exploding demonic rouges, giant mosquito nests, and even the fallen shaman raising his comrades back to laugh). In comparison, I'm just killing random dudes wearing shitty looking rags and giant ticks in Path of Exile. I get that the game gets more interesting, Stephen, but I'm completely turned off by the opening of this game.

My problems with the combat are way more difficult to articulate, unfortunately. Something just feels wrong. I'm constantly swarmed by dozens of enemies that do very little damage on their own, spells and attacks don't feel powerful, I'm constantly whiffing an extra attack after my main target falls, there's very little feedback in terms of how much damage I'm doing and what's "strong," enemies either take too many hits or not enough, it just feels like the same D2 combat that we've all been playing for ten years. That's fine and some people will really appreciate that, but say what you will about D3 and all of the problems with that title, the combat is freakin' fantastic. Everything has a weight and feeling that makes the game feel special and alive (and I know you agree with me, Stephen, so I'm not arguing with you here). Even the way enemies die (acid vs. locust, cleave vs. blowdart) adds to the sense of player empowerment. I guess what I'm saying is I want Path of Exile's open ended character customization combined with D3's amazing combat. Can't win 'em all, I suppose...

No offense to anyone but, the trade system isn't hard to figure out, it's quite simple.

Trade things you don't need for things you need. If you overpay in the beginning it doesn't matter cause you're paying (trading) to get thru the content to higher difficulty levels which is priceless

then when you've gotten there by that time you should have an idea of what's worth what

There's also a site called poeex.info which has a trade chart many ppl use as a foundation. Basically the value gets determined on rarity of the drop. The system isn't perfect, barder shouldn't and can't be perfect. If you played D2 when it was active online, you should get it pretty quick... no one traded gold in D2 anyway so, it's really similar.

one more trade tip if you claim you don't get it... if you play for 5 hours and find 20 of a certian trade currency and 1 of another it's a safe bet which is worth more.

Anyway, I prolly sound a bit edgy but, not only do I like this game, at this point in time the DEVs are really motivated and communicating with players and making changes based on player feedback AND

playing the game with players ( their name has "Dev" in yellow attracted and the text color is yellow )

the DEVs are 18 gamers from New Zealand influenced by Magic the Gathering and Diablo 2. Unfortunately thier budget is small but if they can expand I'm sure they will sacrice little integrity in thier games in the future... Unlike D3 which sold out like Episode 1.

Just started this tonight since I couldn't get into D3 at all... very impressed. Over easily impressed. Just the lighting and water effects on the beach pleased me. From something I'd heard described as a D2 clone I didn't expect such prettiness, or to be getting 170+ fps in a not fully optimized beta.

The trade system I haven't played with enough to say much about. It is definitely confusing at first, but if it cuts down on gold spam and massive inflation most online games end up with these days I'm more than willing to put some time into learning it. Being able to turn normal item drops into magic or rare drops is pretty interesting. The passive tree is insane, but in a great way. Slightly reminds me of FFXII, except you know what you're working towards.

I like this game quite a bit but they really gotta do something about the flaky fps issues that many are having. Even people with powerful rigs are having issues. Its not unplayabe but its distracting to be sure when u take on larger mobs. Playing around with the settings doesn't do anything:/ I hear its coming out of beta in a few months so hopefully something will be done.